Burgess hails Rabbitohs defence

George Burgess spoke of his satisfaction after the South Sydney Rabbitohs beat St Helens without conceding a point in their record-breaking World Club Challenge win on Sunday.

The NRL champions ran in seven tries in a dominant 39-0 victory at Langtree Park that saw them claim the world title for the first time in their history, setting a new record for biggest winning margin in the competition in the process.

But prop Burgess was more pleased with the Rabbitohs' stout defensive effort rather than their attacking exploits.

"We expected St Helens to come out very strong against us," Burgess told Sky Sports. "They came at us with a lot of aggression, we had to stick with it until the end.

"We were really determined to keep the scoreline as low as we could. To come away with that nil was really satisfying."

Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire was quick to express pride in his side's performance, but wants to quickly shift the focus to the challenge of retaining their domestic title.

"[I am] Extremely proud of my players," Maguire said. "They've put a lot of work in. I couldn't be happier for my players.

"We completed [sets of tackles] very well and put a lot of pressure on them. We're all about the next thing now, now we turn our focus to round one."

Meanwhile, St Helens captain Jon Wilkin lamented the mistakes that he feels cost them and the two other Super League sides, Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors, in their preceding World Club Series losses to the St George Illawarra Dragons and Brisbane Broncos respectively.

"The NRL teams don't make mistakes. We came up with mistakes at the start of the game they scored," Wilkin said.

"It's a lesson for us. We made errors with the ball, defensively and when a side like South Sydney complete for 90 per cent for the game, they make you pay.

"Hopefully the English teams can put but up a better fight next time because this has been a massive win for the NRL."